Back to Back
by HardcoreGamerNess
Summary: Thought Titans were bad? Well, you've never been surrounded by a horde of zombies have you? Back to back, Caria Wolf and Levi Ackerman must find a way to escape the innermost district of the Walls and survive this sudden onslaught of walking dead that were once called humans...
1. Prologue

Hello new reader and perhaps some readers from _No More Tears_

This new story features Caria Wolf from my other story, but in a more modern time period. Many elements of SNK are included so take a look!

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 **Prologue**

"Hey! Watch it little girl!" a voice growled as I stumbled back onto my feet.

"Excuse me sir, but you bumped into me," I retorted to the unbelievably short man in front of me. Sure I wasn't that tall myself, slightly shorter than him in fact, but boy did this guy need a growth spurt.

"Damn brat, pay more attention," the man scoffed.

"Geez what a terrible attitude!" I commented inwardly. I didn't want to cause a scene, so I took a deep breath and decided to be more polite. Maybe he was just having a bad day judging by the impressive creases in his forehead.

"Look. It's the end of the day. People are eager to get home. I understand. I'm sorry," I apologized.

"Hmph. Just because _you're_ in a hurry doesn't mean you have to act like a stumbling buffoon," he said with sharp grey eyes piercing me. I saw a hint of smirk on his face. H-he was... goading me? Me, a complete stranger, yet he's instigating an argument? I smiled at the sheer ridiculousness of the situation.

"Whatever. Have a nice day sir. Oh and by the way. I'm not a _brat_ , as you put it, I'm a grown woman. Thought that'd be easy to see for someone of your height level," I shrugged, turning to walk away.

"Of course you're no child what with those melons being the size of your head and perhaps just as hollow..." I just barely heard him mutter.

"How dare you-ahh!" I spun around, but stumbled forward as metro came to a sudden stop, and the power went out. I collided once more with the asshole wearing some out of fashion undercut hairstyle. We fell over onto the ground. Questions voices rang out in the darkness. I felt myself squashed up against the warm chest of the short man. I could feel he was relatively muscular through his pressed white shirt, and my face flushed in embarrassment upon noticing. My body bolted up, and I looked down in alarm. Somehow, I had ended up straddling him.


	2. You of All People

**Chapter 1 You of All People**

"This is hardly the place to do this kind of thing _,_ " the crude man teased, wearing a blank expression. My golden irises glared down at him, and I awkwardly attempted to get off of him. The tight black skirt i wore with a white blouse tucked into it, made it difficult for me to make quick movements.

A voice came over the speakers telling everyone to stay calm, and that we'd have to take an emergency exit into the tunnel of the metro. The people around me let out groans of annoyance, and I suddenly found myself wishing I had just brought my bike with me to classes today. It would have saved me from having this inconvenience, and I wouldn't have met with this short bastard who had obviously been raised in a barn. In about fifteen minutes, we all exited the train. I walked ahead to get out as quickly as possible. Dark enclosed spaces made me somewhat anxious, so the sooner I found the way out, the better. I took out my phone to turn on the flash light function, and made my way along the underground passage.

"Damn it wheres that exit. It must've been a mile by now," I whined aloud after what seemed like at least a good twenty minutes of walking.

"You walked past it just a few minutes ago," a familiar voice sounded. I spun around with my light revealing that dark haired a-hole from earlier standing just a few feet away. I looked behind him but there was no one. We were completely alone...

I stepped back cautiously and my hand slid into my bag searching for the small knife I carried for protection. Picking up on the atmosphere, the short man raised his hands and took a step back.

"Relax. I only came to retrieve you, not take advantage of you," he confessed, pointing his own flash light so that I became illuminated in the darkness of the tunnel.

"Oh yea? Why you and not someone else?" I asked cautiously, finally finding the knife and grasping it.

"I don't think the others were paying attention..." the older man said hesitantly, taking note of the hand that was reached into my cross body bag.

"So what? You were just watching me then?" I scoffed.

"Look. I'm trying to help you. I apologize for my behavior earlier I got a little carried away with my teasing..." he admitted.

"Oh really, so you make it your thing to harass young women on a train?" I pressed.

"No, it wouldn't be becoming for someone in my line of work to do that. I'm a police officer...see."

My eyes followed the man's left arm as he took something out of his pocket, and brought it in front of my face. I shined the flashlight of my phone on it.

"No way. You?" I gasped seeing the badge and ID.

"That's right. My names officer Levi." I looked from him to the badge, then at him, then at the badge again. I frowned only lowering my guard slightly.

"There are plenty of corrupt policemen in the world. Just because you have the badge doesn't mean I can trust you. It could all be part of some elaborate perverted disguise. Also there's the matter that you aren't in uniform. Why?" I pondered, doubtful of the man supposedly name Levi. He sighed in irritation, and put his badge away, folding his hands into his pockets.

"I'm off duty today so it wasn't necessary. I can; however, help someone if they need it can't I?" he responded with a bored expression

"I guess," I mumbled walking past him. I spotted the exit, and started toward it. I had to get away from this guy immediately, he had creep written all over him. Reaching for the handle of the door, I attempted to pull it open but the darned thing wouldn't budge.

"Hey what's up with this door? It won't budge," I growled pulling it with all my might.

"It should be open. Move," He ordered curtly. Making a face at his tone, I reluctantly complied, and watched as he too was unable to open the damnable exit.

"How in the hell is this an emergency exit if it's fucking locked?" I cursed. The whole situation was so annoying. One of the few times I don't bike to the university, and this is what happens. Locked in a train cave with some stalker "policeman".

"Calm down. The maintenance guy for the tunnel must have locked it by accident. Fortunately there should be a manhole somewhere nearby that we can climb out of," Levi said quietly.

We walked in silence, flashing our phones around the dark tunnel and looking for a ladder of some sort.

"So, why haven't anymore trains come by by now? Are they all canceled or something because ours shut down?" I questioned as we searched for the alternate exit.

"Who knows? We'd have to get to the surface to find that out. Just don't think about it, and focus on getting out of here," he said with a slight hint of irritation in his voice. I sighed. Better not to make Mr. Hardass more upset. Guy must have woken up on the wrong side of the bed...

A rat scurried by below us, and I shined a light on it. Contrary to most girls, or people in general, I thought rats were kind of cute; but I jumped a little as the light from my phone revealed that the rat was albino. Its eyes were a freaky glazed, red and it's fur was dirty white. I knelt down, and smiled at the little fellow. It stared at me for a moment before scurrying off into the darkness.

"What are you doing? You're supposed to be looking along the walls not at the tracks," Levi's voice sounded from behind me. I turned my head, and was temporarily stunned by the flashlight he was holding far too close to me face.

"Quit it, you're gonna make me go blind. Geez," I complained, swatting at the flashlight whilst shielding my eyes. I rose to my feet again, and began searching once more for this magical manhole that had yet to appear.

"Are you sure we shouldn't have just stayed at that door, and tried to pick the lock?" I groaned.

"One doesn't simply pick emergency door locks. They require special keys..." the officer stated.

"It's a door leading to a dark tunnel hosting rats, and other shit people don't usually care to be around, why would it need a special key?" I questioned as my anxiety level began to rise.

"I don't know. I'm a police officer not a locksmith," Levi replied. I found my mood sinking deeper as we walked further. I felt itchy, a symptom of my anxiety that reared its obnoxious head whenever I was confined to dark enclosed spaces for too long.

" _Now_ what's going on with you?" Levi said, though he was walking in front of me. The sound of my scratching must have told him that I was up to something.

"I'm itchy," I answered simply. He stopped in his tracks as I wandered past him with my fingers clawing away at my skin.

"Wait... what?" he said dumbstruck.

"It's anxiety. I just need to get out of this tunnel okay. It reminds me too much of a cage," I grunted and sighed in content as I found a very satisfying niche on my lower back.

"You look ridiculous doing that. Just stop thinking about it. Clear your mind, and imagine that you're as free as a fucking bird, then you're problem will be solved," He said monotonously. I frowned at him and kept at my scratching.

"This actually feels really good though. Like—right—mmm-there..." I purred in delight.

"Cut it out. Maybe your boyfriend enjoys listening to the sound of you moaning but I sure don't want to hear it," Levi groused.

"For your information. I don't have a boyfriend. And the sounds I'm making are in no way sexual. You're just so perverse that I'm sure an audio recording of a woman reading a book would get you off," I huffed.

"Wrong, an audio recording of a woman taking a piss gets me off," he retorted.

"Oh ha ha, way to turn it around," I said rolling my eyes.

"Here it is," Levi stopped grabbing hold of the rusting metal bars forming a ladder up to the roof of the tunnel.

"Finally!" I started to climb up first but then remembered that I was wearing a skirt.

"Listen I haven't got all day so climb up the damn ladder already," Levi growled impatiently.

"After you _officer,"_ I said with a mocking bow.

"Whatever," Levi said hoisting himself onto the bars. I exasperated, happy that I wouldn't have to worry about that creep looking up my skirt although as I started to climb, I couldn't help but notice how shapely Levi's rear looked in those pants as he climbed upward. Great, now I was the pervert.


	3. Welcome Home, Stranger

**Chapter 2 Welcome Home Stranger**

The uncanny policeman peeked open the lid of the manhole once we reached the top.

"Strange... the streets are deserted and it's not completely dark yet..." he commented.

"That's nice. Now can you move? I'd rather look at something else besides your ass," I commented. Complying, Levi fully opened the manhole, and crawled out onto the street.

"Cover that back up, I have to find out where we are," Levi ordered nonchalantly, examining the area around us. I grasped the manhole to move it back into place. It was very faint but I heard something down below that sounded like a scream. I stopped for a moment and peered down into the manhole. Did that train engineer lock someone else down there too?

"Hey _Mr. Officer_ , were we the only ones that got trapped down there?" I pondered squinting down into the darkness of the hole.

"As far as I know, yes. Why?" he asked.

"I...just thought I heard a scream coming from the tunnel is all..." I hesitantly explained.

"It was probably just your avid imagination. Let's get out of here; I can escort you to where you live. It's still somewhat light out but it'll be getting dark soon," he offered. I closed the lid and stood up stretching. The officers words were confirmed. No one was anywhere to be seen, and it was dead silent.

"Is there some sort of sports game going on or an event somewhere? ...Where are we by the way?" I asked.

"Don't know. And we're on Weststone road in the Stohess district of Sina," Levi replied evenly.

"Tch, I'm in the Erchmich District and that's farther south. It would take me hours to get down there on foot..." I trailed off, temporarily stunned by the inconvenient situation.

"Hold on, I'll call a friend and see if I can get you down there," Levi said. The officer dialed a number on his phone.

"Hey...Petra, you live in Erchmich right? …...Good, I have someone with me that needs to go down there and I would take her myself but I figured you know the area better...what?...no I didn't hear about that...they did?...hmm...no... it's okay...I'll find a way...I'll check it...thanks bye." Levi hung up his phone and I watched as he pressed multiple buttons on his keypad seemingly searching for something. Minutes passed by before I eventually decided to interrupt him.

"Hey I can just take a bus you know. I don't want to inconvenience you," I said.

"No you can't. The buses aren't running. All transportation has been shut down except for emergency and other authorized vehicles," he abruptly stated.

"What? How the hell am I supposed to get home then?!" I exclaimed incredulously. Levi sighed, his brows creased, and he ran a hand through his hair seemingly distraught.

"Alright, promise me that you won't get all crazy on me, but... something strange is going on, maybe some sort of terrorist attack... I figured since my house is close by, I can offer you some temporary shelter for the time being until I can figure out what happened," Levi explained eying me closely with that seemingly inherent emotionless face that he always sported.

"I—I guess. If there really is no other way..." I reluctantly agreed.

"Good. Now I'm gonna need to ask you some identification questions. As per protocol. I'll need you to answer each question truthfully. Understand?" He began walking up the hill continuing along Weststone road. I nodded, following after him and glancing around at the unfamiliar area I found myself in.

"First of all, and it's probably the most important, what's your name?" he began.

"Caria Wolf," I replied

"Alright...next question... how old are you?" he inquired.

"I'm 21..." I responded.

"Sounds about right... and lastly, what's your occupation?" he finished.

"I'm a student at the University of Mitras studying Arabic, German and medicine."

"German?" he questioned looking over his shoulder curiously.

"Yea I know I already speak it perfectly but I want to major in it since I plan to be an ambassador of some sort. My mother's Habesha Ethiopian and the area she grew up could benefit from better health care which is why I plan to learn medicine and hopefully provide some sort of aid to the people over there," I explained.

"I see...how many languages do you speak then?" he inquired.

"Three and I'm a bit conversational in English. Arabic, Amharic, and German I speak fluently," I said proudly.

"So that's what that hint of an accent is, all those languages gives your German its own unique sound. Were you born here?" he asked.

"Yes. My father is German and my mother migrated here fell in love and got married. It was pretty romantic although her family didn't like it and neither did my father's," I confessed.

"Hmm... we're here," the dark haired man announced pulling out his key and unlocking the door to his condo. He lived in a pretty fancy area. Every abode looked picture perfect from the outside, as if they'd just been built yesterday.

"Wow it's so pristine in here; it looks like a model home! This is where you live?!" I exclaimed, astonished by the richness of the abode.

"I don't like to live in filth," He commented.

"Err speaking of filth...umm you don't mind if I take a shower do you?" I asked nervously. "I just feel really filthy from being in the tunnel for so long..."

"...Fine, follow me," I followed Levi upstairs silently awing at the artistic looking displays and model-esque nature of the home. He was clearly rather wealthy but then again the innermost region of Sina tended to house the upper class.

"Here's your towel, try not to make a mess or anything," he said.

"Uh sure. I'll leave it as I found it," I promised. With that, he took his leave and closed the door. I began to undress, the chilly air hitting my bare skin. I dashed into the bathroom eager to get under the hot water. My eyes lit up in delight at the shower which looked liked it had never been used. I turned the faucet and cooed in delight as the water hit my skin. My shower usually took a minute to bring on the warm water but this water was already hot when it came out.

"Ah this is great..." I sighed contently. "Hmm let's see what kind of soap he has...unscented huh, perfect!" I began to hum as I washed my body. It's a shame this wasn't _my_ shower...

 **knock knock**

I opened my eyes realizing that I'd probably been in the shower for too long. Whoops. I turned the water off and apologized quickly.

"Actually, you weren't in there for too long. I just came to tell you that I made food," the low voice on the other side of the door mentioned.

"Oh! Thank you!" I said from the other side of the door. I listened for his footsteps walking away. My bag was outside the door so I had to grab my unused gym clothes and wear that for the night. A not too tight t-shirt and sweatpants. These were far comfier than wearing that skirt. I pulled my damp hair up into a bun and went down stairs.

"Hey thanks for letting me use the shower, it was really nice of you," I said to the police officer sitting on his couch consumed in a book.

"No problem," he said closing the book and setting it on a low table. He looked at me, and I saw his eyes widen before he turned away hiding an odd expression. "Hey... don't girls usually wear bras or something...?" Levi asked looking away.

"Huh? Well not when going to bed," I frowned.

"Maybe you should start." I looked down and realized that my nipples were poking through my shirt. It wasn't _that_ cold, and yet they were acting so sensitive. I quickly turned around in embarrassment and headed up the stairs. My gym bag should have a sports bra which wouldn't be too uncomfortable to wear during the night...

I made my way down the stairs once more and walked towards the pleasant smell of food.

"Would you like anything to drink?" Levi asked with arms folded, standing against a counter.

"Um just water is fine. Er... thanks for letting me know about... _that..._ " I stated awkwardly.

"Yeah... no problem." Levi grabbed a glass out of the cupboard as I sat down in the dim table setting. I saw shrimp and pasta with some asparagus on the side. I loved shrimp, and asparagus wasn't bad if cooked properly. A glass of water appeared in my peripheral and Levi seated himself across from me. I glanced at him and blushed. This setting was almost intimate... like a quiet date or something, but whilst Levi was still wearing formal clothing, I was dawned in unattractive gym clothes.

"What's with that look on your face?" Levi asked bluntly.

"Nothing... thanks for the food," I said quickly. I focused on the plate of food, coupling the noodles with the shrimp first. I bit into it and was delighted to find that it actually tasted good. Whether someone could cook or not was always hit or miss. The asparagus had been expertly sautéed in butter and pepper, enhancing its flavor. I looked up from my plate to see if Levi had finished his food only to see that his plate was untouched.

"... why are you staring at me like that?" I questioned seeing that Levi was leaned back, arms folded, watching me with those enigmatic, sharp grey eyes of his.

"Do you...like the food," He asked slowly.

"Yea it's great," I replied immediately.

"I don't usually get the chance to cook for anyone other than myself so I was... curious," he explained.

"Well I like it a lot. So my hat's off to you chef!" I joked. I took a swig of water before devouring the remainder of my plate, sighing ecstatically when the deed was done.

Seeing my content state, Levi began to eat his own food and as payback I sat across from him staring at him like a hawk. He took careful bites as if he was judging the taste of his own food. I flushed a bit when his tongue darted out to catch a bit of sauce from his lips. He ate with such precision and no doubt made me look like some wild animal scarfing down food in comparison. He took longer to finish , but when he was done, he downed his own water in one fell gulp and wiped his mouth in a manner that further exemplified his good table etiquette.

"Not my best, but edible," he commented.

"No way, you're being modest. I wouldn't mind having you as my own personal chef," I grinned. "Seriously, where'd you learn how to cook?"

"Well it was either learn how to cook, or keep shelling out money for restaurant dinners and buying pre-made junk. Living alone requires you to learn how to fend for yourself," he replied.

"Really no significant other to cook for?" I said with a raised brow.

"No..." he said watching me carefully.

"Wait a minute, how old are you?" I asked.

"That's enough questions for the night I'm afraid," Levi said getting up to clear the plates.

"Keeping secrets huh? I'm sure there's something around here that will tell me how old you are..." I pondered looking around.

"Really, did your parents raise you to snoop around into other people's business?" Levi frowned.

"Relax I'm kidding. Here I'll do the dishes okay," I offered walking over to the sink.

"Use this I'll go set up your bed," He announced leaving me alone in his fancy kitchen. I finished the chore quickly and curiously peered through the cabinets to see if he had any fancy cookbooks or spices. Everything looked completely new. It was as though he had just had the house built yesterday. There was no indication that anything was being used. I strode out of the kitchen, and stopped with a silly grin on my face as I watched him make-up the bed.

"You know. You give a terrible first impression. But you're actually not that bad," I stated bluntly.

"And here I was hoping you'd end up hating me, and harboring a lifelong grudge," he said flatly.

"They say smart people like sarcasm the most out of all types of humor," I commented.

"Oh?" he responded curiously.

"No, I just made that up," I smirked.

"You're weird... It's done. Good night," he said abruptly.

"But it's only...8:30," I frowned checking my phone.

"hmm well I'm turning in, is there anything else you need?" he asked.

"No..." I hesitated. We both stood silently for a moments and then Levi retreated to his own room leaving me alone to ponder the day's events.

"Woke up and took the metro to school, had and unexciting day at college. Met a jerk on the metro back to our district, then metro broke down. Got lost in the tunnel with jerk who actually is an officer. Got locked in the tunnel with him. Got out of the tunnel with him. Found out that I can't ride the bus home. Have to stay at officer's house overnight. Officer wasn't a jerk, just gives bad first impression," I whispered texting the days events to my best friend Mikasa.

"Jerk? What does he look like?" Mikasa's message glowed on the screen.

"Curious? What about Eren?" I teased.

"I just want to know what he looks like. Maybe he could be the -" I set the phone aside not wanting to read anymore of Mikasa's drivel about romance. Ever since Eren had agreed to start dating the younger woman she'd wanted me to find a date as well. We'd visited a Roma fortune teller that gave some nonsensical prediction that Mikasa began reciting whenever I pointed out some guy that I thought was attractive. We both attended the same university and she was usually on my wavelength except when it came to romance. If I told her about Levi she'd pick him apart. She had a bad habit of attempting to deem whether a guy was good enough for me or not. I laid on my back for a time, just staring at the ceiling. Only one more semester in college and I'd be out. My father worked in international relations so I already had a leg up in jobs.

 **Alert Alert Alert – all citizens should be inside. The streets are being monitored for movement. Anyone not indoors at twenty-one hundred hours will be shot on site. Again.**

 **Alert Alert Alert – all citizens should be inside. The streets are being monitored for movement. Anyone not indoors at twenty-one hundred hours will be shot on site. Again**

 **Alert Alert Alert – all citizens should be inside. The streets are being monitored for movement. Anyone not indoors at twenty-one hundred hours will be shot on site.**

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Thanks for reading! Reviews appreciated and encouraged(err be gentle though).


	4. Well, this isn't Awkward at All

**Chapter 3: Well, This isn't Awkward at All**

I rose out of bed and went to the window. The streets were completely dark, but I could see search lights. Was there some sort of criminal organization on the loose?

"I got a message," came a voice from the dark.

"Ahhh!" I jumped.

"Caria. Relax," Levi's voice sounded.

"Sorry... you just came out of nowhere. What was the message about?" I panted, my racing heartbeat returning to normal.

"According to the head of the Covert Police Force, my unit, there's been an incident in the bio genetic engineering sector of the capital. Some dumb shit got careless or something. It should be resolved in the morning," Levi explained. He came by my side at the window, peering through the shades. "Those guys out there on the streets are the Military Police Unit. Honestly, they don't use their guns for anything but black market sales. They should have sent _us_ out there," Levi said.

I stared at him in the dark, an anxious feeling coming over me. Maybe Levi was right about my avid imagination. Admittedly, my thoughts could get pretty wild sometimes, but the scream I'd heard before covering the manhole to the metro tunnel was still haunting me.

"Hey. Can you come down from your room and sleep in here... or I could go up there and sleep on the floor?" I suggested swallowing a lump in my throat.

"Why, what's wrong?" he asked, turning away from the window.

"I'd just feel better if I knew someone was near by," I explained sheepishly.

"I'm right up the stairs, what could possibly go wr-"

"Please don't finish that sentence." I quickly covered his lips with my hand. I felt him sigh, and he grabbed my arm, uncovering his mouth.

"Hmph, didn't peg a girl like you for being superstitious." He paused for a few moments, searching the alarm in my topaz irises.

"Alright... You can lie on the floor... but I'd like to get to sleep, so no bed time stories okay?" he teased. I frowned and nodded, gathering my things to take up the stairs. Plopping myself a few feet from his king-sized bed, I laid the bedding down. I yelped as a heavy piece of cloth landed on my head, covering me in darkness.

"Another blanket," he stated carelessly. I made a sound of annoyance, receiving a chuckle from the dark-haired man in return.

It was silent save for the humming of the house, and the muffled sound of movement outside. I wanted to ask Levi more questions about himself. He was so precise at giving non-informative answers, and I got the sense that it wasn't because he was ashamed of anything, but rather he was simply disinclined to share. I could respect that, but I just felt so damn curious about him for some reason. But then again, I _was_ a stranger, so expecting him to open to me was unrealistic.

 **Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhwwwwwwoooooowwwwwww!**

My body bolted upright, and my eyes widened. That sound... it was from earlier. Gunshots rang out. I looked to my right at the window, eyes widened in terror. What the hell was going on?! I listened as the commotion carried on for a good five minutes before dying down... and then I heard another screech.

"Levi," I turned to the man whose dark silhouette appeared to be sitting upright on the bed. He checked his phone, his expression relaying nothing to me as his eyes scanned the illuminated screen. He closed his phone and sighed, looking to the window, then glanced over at my "scared puppy" face, and patted the bed signaling that it was okay if I hopped in.

"This is pretty damn ridiculous, you know," he commented.

"I don't care. I can admit that I'm scared right now and need someone close to me," I confessed.

"What would you do if I weren't here?" He prompted.

"Snuggle with my roommate or with my stuffed animal," I replied.

"Didn't you say something about being a 'grown woman'?" he mentioned.

"Is there some sort of law saying that stuffed animals are only for kids?" I asked stubbornly.

"An unspoken rule, yes," he stated.

"Well I missed that memo so I don't care," I huffed.

"Tsk, well are you fine now?" He rolled his eyes.

"Yeah I feel better. I can sense that you're actually a good police officer, and not a creepy stalker asshole now," I smiled.

"Good, everyone's happy," he droned.

 **Ahhhhhhhhwwwwwwwowwwwwwww!**

I gasped and scooted closer to Levi, burying myself in his chest.

"Alright... I can't do this with you, it's not appropriate. I-" He said putting his hands out to push me away.

"Please." I pleaded. "Look, I know it's stupid, but I just... I have a bad feeling. I'll repay you for putting up with me, but right now with the situation...please. Let me stay like this. My cat-hazel eyes looked up at him, more serious than they had ever been. I'd never been so close to a man in my life, but right now, it felt...right. I didn't break my gaze, and when I saw him breath in and out, I knew I had won. And so he held me to him and I gratefully welcomed sleep.

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"Get up."

I groaned as my body was shaken from its slumber. My hand went to my tousled hair that had escaped its bun sometime during the night. I pulled the tangled scrunchy out of my black tresses, letting my wavy locks hit my mid back.

"We have to leave. Pack your things," Levi's voice ordered urgently. I glanced over at the dresser in the corner of Levi's room to see the officer sporting a dark blue uniform. I slowly arched up, stretching and yawing simultaneously. I didn't want to leave the warmth of the large bed, but no doubt the grey-eyed police dog would be barking my ass up a tree if I didn't move.

Hopping out of bed, I went straight to my gym bag to make sure that I had my phone and everything else gathered. I walked into the bathroom and stared at my disheveled appearance. The gym clothes weren't very flattering, but I didn't have any suitable alternatives so I'd have to make due with what I was wearing. My honey brown skin could've also used a good moisturizer. Sighing, I washed my face with lukewarm water, and did my best to comb my hair with my fingers.

"Yes...?" I raised a brow at Levi who'd randomly entered the bathroom without any forewarning. Not that I'd closed the door...

"A toothbrush for after you eat, there's food downstairs..." Levi said staring at the reflection of me in the mirror. He set the toothbrush down on the counter and ran the faucet for a moment. He took a bit of water, and brushed it through his hair. I tried not to pay attention as I continued raking my hair, but I couldn't help but notice how good he looked in uniform, and how the undercut he sported was actually kind of attractive...

"Hey, are you gonna tell me what's really going on?" I said, parting my hair slightly down the middle with one finger.

"...This area has been compromised. Apparently whatever went wrong has gotten worse. There's a rendezvous point at the gate of Stohess. The Chief of the Covert Police Unit is Erwin Smith. He's been feeding me information and it looks like there's an emergency vehicle evacuating citizens to the gate about a mile from here so we have to hurry. They're making 3 round trips. One is at 8 am, one's at 9am and then another one's at 10 am and that's it. It's nearly 8:30 and it should take us less than fifteen minutes to get there. I'd rather leave earlier than later, so don't take too long," Levi reminded me once more before leaving the bathroom.

"Right..." I said quietly, an uneasy feeling welling in my stomach. Not wasting any more time, I flew down the stairs. My nose was greeted with the wonderful smell of pancakes. I squealed in delight upon seeing the fluffy mass set on a plate with syrup and fruit on the side. The warm syrup poured over the pancakes, spreading like a wave on the sand. My mother would scold me if she saw the way I wolfed down my food. Naturally sweet strawberries coupled with a syrup covered slice of pancake did wonders for the stomach, especially when washed down with a cool glass of orange juice.

"You really know how to treat a guest Levi. I certainly wouldn't mind being your roommate," I sighed in delight to the man leaning on the counter, having watched me finish the remainder of my food. "You know. They say the way to a man's heart is through his stomach, but I think the same could be said for us girls as well. I mean, who turns up a good plate of food? Are you sure there's no one else you're cooking for? I mean, it's pretty surprising you're actually..."

I trailed off realizing where my speech was headed. Levi was already watching me carefully, dissecting every word no doubt.

"... anyways. I'll clean this stuff up and we can leave," I mentioned nervously, changing the subject.

"You still have your 'pajamas' on," he noted.

"Yea well I'm not going back to wearing that other getup. I hate skirts. I was only wearing one because I had to give a presentation," I explained scrubbing the dish clean of syrup residue.

"On what?" he asked.

"The history of Semitic influence in Ethiopia, I especially liked the part where I got to speak Arabic," I answered gleefully.

"Hmm, I don't hear much Arabic, how does it sound?" he pondered.

"Levi you're a wonderful cook, thank you," I told him in Arabic.

"Ah so it's a bit guttural sounding language... but interesting. What did you say?"

"You're a wonderful cook, thank you," I repeated in German.

"I see... we should leave in three minutes. Was there anything you needed? I don't have any lady clothes so I can't help you there," he stated.

"No...I'll brush my teeth and then we can leave immediately."

Levi gathered his belongings, double checked everything to make sure he had what he needed, and left the house with me in tow. We trekked northeast to a bus stop that would take us to the gate. I took note of the splotches on the ground that resembled dried blood as we walked. Last night's commotion outside came to mind. Someone had bled out on the ground, and then their body was moved.

A small crowd was huddled together at the bus point when Levi and I turned the corner. I looked at my phone. 8:50. Ten more minutes, and we'd be out of here. As soon as I got to the gate I could probably transfer buses to Ehrmich. I guess after this I wouldn't be seeing the police officer anymore...

"Hey. Levi?" I called as he walked in front of me.

"What?" He answered turning around.

"After this bus ride I guess we'll be going our separate ways so thank you, for everything," I said bowing my head a bit.

"My plan was to escort you to your home," He said simply.

"Oh. Well that's okay. You've gone out of your way for me already, it's really not necessary," I smiled, blushing a bit. He really was a sweet guy, albeit rough around the edges. And admittedly, that stupid prediction that Mikasa kept bringing up was playing itself in the back of my head. I kinda liked him...

"Hey well, we can exchange numbers and I'll give you a call when I'm home safely. Maybe once this craziness is over..." I paused, overcome with embarrassment. My face must be totally flushed. "I-I-I c-can repay you b-by treating you to dinner or s-something." I face-palmed inwardly at my stuttering mess of a sentence. On top of that I couldn't even look at him as I said it.

Levi took his hand under my chin and lifted it so that my hazel eyes bore dumbstruck into his smoke colored ones, and he uttered one word.

"Deal."

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Thanks for reading, I hoped you like the chapter!


	5. It Begins

**Chapter 4: It Begins...**

The bus ended up being pretty crowded, so Levi and I stood holding the bars for support as the bus shuffled down the road. According to the driver, it would be a forty-five minute ride. I checked my phone. Mikasa had sent me quite a few messages since I last checked it.

( **text1** ): "Caria! Something big happened up in Mitras. Some sort of patient outbreak from a hospital. Ehrmich's on lock down. Everyone in the district's supposed to evacuate to Rose. The military's setting up camps or something for 'refugees'. Ugh, things are crazy… By the way, Eren took me out to a pub last night. He got annoyed with me when I told him not to drink too much, and said I should stop acting like his mother and more like his girlfriend. Do you think I act motherly? Wait... don't answer that."

( **text2** ):"How's it going with the officer you found living in the tunnel? He isn't a pervert is he? You know you've got those creep magnets stuck to your chest. If he tries anything I'll drive up there and kill him for you. Woops hopefully he isn't reading your phone. Threatening a police officer could get me some hard time. My last name isn't on your phone is it?"

( **text3** )"Hey why aren't you answering?"

( **text4** )"Heard about the quarantine and something about the MPU being dispatched, everything okay?"

( **text5** )"Eren has a hangover."

( **text6** )"Hello?"

( **text7** )"Answer me damn it!"

I sighed reading through the messages, and responded telling her that I was okay and that I'd probably be heading to where they were in a few hours.

Suddenly, my body stiffened. An unknown hand rubbed my waist,and slowly trailed up my torso to grasp my breast. My breath hitched as my face slowly contorted in anger. My hand shot out to capture the gropers' arm, and I spun around, twisting the limb so that he was crying for me to let go.

"What the fuck do you think you're doing. Huh!?" I growled.

"Caria, I'll handle this," Levi said before turning to glare at the bastard who tried to feel me up. "Give me your name," Levi ordered.

"What's it you?" the idiot groper responded. It was a sleazy looking man that had to be at least twenty years my senior. He has a dirty mop of blonde hair and lifeless eyes. Levi pointed to his badge, attached to his obvious police uniform, and repeated the question, tone becoming more threatening and irritated.

"C-clark Broker," the man answered, immediately changing his disposition.

"Alright, you have a warning _Clark_. If you're smarter than you look, you won't hear from me again. If I hear name again, and it's associated with any sort of wrongdoing. I'll _personally_ , see to your arrest," Levi threatened darkly. The man nodded and backed away, with the surrounding people passing their looks of disgust to him.

"Geez, I'm wearing loose gym clothes too. How on earth do I look like a target?" I complained.

"You have an overall feminine appearance despite the lack of form fitting attire. Besides, women are targets for assault regardless of what they wear anyways, unfortunately, and you having that face doesn't help," he explained.

"Are you telling me I need to have a mustache or grow a beard?" I responded in jest.

"Tch, come here, move in front of me," he suggested. He grabbed me, placing me almost against his chest, and drew my hand up to grasp below his on the rail.

"You should have no problem here," He whispered in my ear. I blushed at the proximity and looked forward saying nothing.

"You handled yourself pretty well. I'm guessing those gym clothes aren't just for show?" he prompted.

" _No_. They were in my bag for a reason. I take kickboxing, lift weights and do tai chi," I said in a slightly bragging tone.

"All on the same day?" he asked.

"Yes, although kickboxing is two days, lifting is three, and tai chi is five. So everything's not always on the same day," I explained.

"Can't say I do tai chi, but part of being an officer is staying in shape and hand to hand combat is something we learn in the covert unit, and of course there's weightlifting," he commented. I smiled and spun around to face him.

"We should spar sometimes. I'm pretty confident in my abilities so I'd like to see how we measure up against each other," I said with a cat like smirk. The bus went over a bump and I found myself, deja-vu, stumbling into Levi.

"You really need to work on your footing," Levi commented, looking down at my face that was plastered to his hard chest. For a moment everyone around us seemed invisible. I felt myself drawing closer to the older man, leaning gently against him and studying his face. His expression didn't look so sour right about now, and the silvery eyes seemed to relax. He didn't have any lines on his face conveying his age, but maybe he was the type that only showed his years once he _really_ got up there. I could feel his heart beating faintly under my right palm. His mouth parted a bit, and my gaze flew to his welcoming lips.

"Caria...We're here," Levi announced putting his hands on my shoulders and creating some distance between us.

"Oh..." was all I could utter before turning away from him and being swallowed alive by my embarrassment. "Gah! What was wrong with me, staring at him like that?!" I scolded inwardly.

Together, everyone shuffled off the train in uniform. The wall was fifty meters tall and the gate forty percent of its height. Outside was the wide expanse of Wall Rose, a large agricultural land showcasing Germany's greatest pride in green technology. All three walls were collectively called Titan. In this area of the world, there was a strong focus on renewable energy. Titan was built as a means to show other countries, including the German republic, that they could prosper without nonrenewable resources like gas or petroleum.

Most Germans now resided in the walls although there were a fair share of foreigners present. Luckily, the the co-founders of Titan were welcoming to everyone although some Germans believed that their achievements should belong to the people whose ancestry was rooted in the country. In the beginning, foreigners were looked down upon and in some areas, harassed. The police often settled matters of violence without much trouble, and in these days, tensions between differing populations of people had become relatively peaceful.

My mother came here after winning a scholarship based on her work in lab in Ethiopia where she was able to slowly regenerate the hair cells for men who were faced with baldness. In Titan, she was invited to the parties of the wealthy, and asked to teach at universities, demonstrating her findings. Eventually, she met my father, a wealthy agricultural engineer who was of the highest standard for engineers based in Titan. My father's family didn't like foreigners and mother's family wanted her to marry someone from her town whom she'd never met. Without family consent, they wed and I was born in Titan, renowned across the world for it's superior education, thriving economy, and overall advanced quality of life.

It was also within Titan that more ethically controversial subjects could be expanded upon. There were still limits, but animals for instance, were regularly cloned and used so that there was little importing into the walls. People could be fed from multiple clones coming from the DNA of a single animal making extinction impossible for such creatures. Not only were animals used in testing, but humans as well. One could volunteer to be used in experiments, and their family was given a hefty sum of life insurance should something go wrong. It was of course illegal to take a human being against their will and subject them to experimentation, which is why the police forces were segmented into three units.

Each unit existed, among other things, so that abuse of the more liberal science practices was nearly nonexistent. The Military Police, made up of people who scored high on aptitude tests, and who simply had good connections, mostly operated within the inner district of Titan where nothing ever really happened. It was in times of high crisis that they were called upon, though according to Levi, their habit of taking it easy kept them from being of any _real_ use to the citizenry. The Covert Police took care of _sensitive_ matters in Titan. If there was a hidden lab conducting unorthodox experiments that went against the law, the CP would clean up the operation without it ever being known to the public. They functioned quietly and efficiently, keeping the peace on a more discreet level. Lastly, there was the Border Guard Police. They were positioned at the gates between walls and districts. They did basic peace keeping: sending petty thieves to jail, capturing illegal immigrants that had somehow managed to find their way into Titan(and this was a rare case scenario) and making sure citizens generally followed the law.

"Everyone, could I have your attention please? We have one more schedule of buses to run, and then we're opening the gate to evacuate you all to safety," announced a middle-aged woman with ginger hair pulled back into a messy bun and square framed glasses. She looked worn out and it was only ten in the morning. The last set of citizens would be arriving by eleven and then we'd be free to leave.

"Hey, I brought food," Levi said handing me a bag of granola and a jar of peanuts.

"You don't have to get me anything you know. You've done enough. I'll be fine," I smiled, overwhelmed by his generosity.

"Well something might come up where you're not able to get food so I figured I bring some," Levi said.

"Hehe. It's not like this is the apocalypse and we need to plan for days without food. As my father likes to say 'this too shall pass'," I joked. Levi grimaced, his brows furrowing, and his lips performing a slight frown. He glanced at me with hard eyes, holding back whatever it was that he had to say.

"What is it, what are you not telling me?" I asked, caught off guard by his sudden change in demeanor.

"Holy shit! What's your problem man?! You can't just go around biting people like that!" someone exclaimed in the crowd.

"Oh my god, he's shaking. I think he's having a seizure," a woman's voice commented.

"Looks like he popped a blood vessel, the whites of his eyes have some red in em. Hey lady at the podium, we need help over here!" another voice spoke up.

"Ahh! Shit. Mary what the hell. Why'd you bite me!" a man in a another area of the crowd shouted.

"Everyone calm down, what's going on?" the blonde women commanded.

"Apparently some people are so sick of waiting that their taking a bite out of their buddies, when the fuck are we getting out of here?!" somebody yelled.

"Biting...no. Whose biting? No one's leaving until I know what's going on." The ginger woman with glasses suddenly started to become hysterical. Her tone seemed almost suspicious. I looked to Levi and gasped at his expression.

"Caria, we're leaving," he told me, taking my hand in his.

"What are you saying we have to stay here," I argued, tugging my arm away from him.

"MPU Dispatch 1 respond, there's been a complication at the gate!" The ginger woman called, speaking into a blue tooth device.

"Shit?! This fucker just took a chunk out of my girlfriend's arm! I think he has rabies or something!" a guy not too far from us yelled. People started to panic and in a matter of minutes, everyone was shuffling around in fear of being bitten. The woman at the podium begged in vain for everyone to settle down. In the chaos, Levi took me by the hand and pulled me away from the commotion. Spotting a manhole, he stopped and bent down, opening the lid which led to a metro tunnel.

"W-wait what are you doing?!" I cried.

"We have to get out of here and taking the metro tunnel is the best way." Levi explained.

"No. I'm not going down there. That woman called the military police. When they arrive. They'll take care of those crazy, sick people and I can get to the refugee camp outside of Rose," I determined.

"If you go back there then there's a good chance that you won't ever get out of Sina," Levi said

"Oh and why's that? You know what's going on or something?" I asked incredulously.

"Yes. And I want to explain, but we need to get out of the streets. Stop wasting time by asking pointless questions," Levi said curtly.

"How do I know that I can trust you?" I questioned. Levi raised a brow in disbelief.

"You were fine sleeping in the same bed with me last night. Do you normally sleep with men you don't trust?" Levi scoffed. I looked hard at him and turned away, burned by his words.

"Caria... wait I-"

"No!" I cried. "You said your part... Now we'll go our separate ways."

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Oh Caria. :(

What will happen in the next chapter? Stay tuned. Hope you guys liked it!


	6. Powertrips Don't Last

**Chapter 5: Power-trips Don't Last**

 **"** How could he say something like that?" I scoffed, walking along the perimeter of Stohess's wall. Maybe it was stupid for me to leave in a situation that was obviously out of control... and I was pretty much alone and helpless now, but I refused to turn back. If I remembered correctly, there were multiple maintenance doors positioned along the sides. I might be able to find one and slip out to Wall Rose.

 _"Do you always sleep with men you don't trust?"_

His words echoed in my head. I knew his social skills were lacking, but he totally crossed the line with that comment. "Stupid, handsome, jerk!" I shouted. There wasn't anyone around to hear me. All the citizens in the area had probably evacuated by now.

For thirty minutes, I walked along the wall. I pulled out my phone to check it. There hadn't been any more texts from Mikasa, my parents or anyone else I knew.

"Hey you! Girl! Stop right there!" A voice called from behind me. I stopped and turned around to see men in police uniforms with guns aimed at me. One had dirty-blonde hair, green eyes and looked to be the youngest of the three. Another had chestnut hair and dark brown eyes. The third officer, evidently the oldest, had salt and pepper hair with blue-hazel colored eyes.

"She doesn't have the creepy bloodshot eyes thing going on," the youngest officer noted.

"What are you doing here?" the oldest officer asked.

"I was... running away from the commotion at the gate," I decided not to tell them that I was searching for a way out on my own. Something told me that it wouldn't be a smart move.

"Commotion at the gate?" the chestnut-haired officer repeated in question.

"Yeah. Apparently some people started to get bitten in the crowd, and soon everyone was running around screaming," I told them.

"Were you bitten?" the salt and pepper haired officer questioned.

"No. I'm fine," I answered. I watched his eyes narrow, and he nodded to the officers on either side of him.

They marched forward and both officers took my arms, presumably checking them for bite marks.

"Hey! I said wasn't bitten, so stop your prodding!" I struggled.

"As a precaution we have to check. Find anything?" Both soldiers shook their heads and stepped back.

"Wait... We have to check under her shirt for bite marks and her legs too," The older officer said eyeing me closely.

"Are you mad? You can't violate my privacy like that," I protested. The blonde haired officer looked at his commanding officer in question, seemingly just as confused as I was.

"Um sir. She said she wasn't bitten and we checked her so-"

"Do as I say. That's an order. Lift her shirt up," the head officer instructed.

"Get off me!" I kicked the chestnut haired officer in the crotch, and tried to run away from them. I heard a grunt and saw the blonde soldier attempting to stop his superior.

"Run!" he called to me. I looked back as he was knocked upside the head with the head officer's rifle.

"Watch him. I'll deal with his insubordination later," the elder officer said. I sprinted ahead of the officer, darting around the alleys between houses. I was far enough ahead, so I jumped behind a couple of bushes and stilled myself. I closed my mouth, and silenced my breathing.

"Come out girl. You owe me for the trouble you've caused," the senior officer growled. His voice carried over from about twenty feet away.

Waiting, I stayed hidden for a good ten minutes before slowly peeking out to see if the coast was clear. Trying to be as inconspicuous as possible, I inched out from behind the bushes. My footsteps were light as I made my way in the opposite direction of the corrupt soldiers. I made it a few blocks without seeing anyone, and decided to quicken my pace a bit, going through an alley since I'd be too visible on the main streets. I sighed and my thoughts turned to Levi. I was angry with him, but maybe he was right. I didn't have any reason not to trust him. He'd offered me food, his house, his comfort and...shit! Hell, I probably offended him. He'd proven that he was trustworthy to me already, and I went and acted like he hadn't. I sighed and prepared to trek back to the manhole and see if he was still there.

"Get over here!" a voice roared.

I screamed as the senior officer grabbed a fist full of my wavy black hair, and threw me against the wall. He proceeded to cuff both my wrist with his larger right hand, while his left hand began to stroke my ass.

"Thought you were home free huh? Well I don't like it when citizens disobey me. Now you're gonna provide me with a service for wasting my time!" I gasped as I felt something hard poking me. The officer had a sloppy hold on my wrist, so using his idiocy to my advantage, I elbowed him square in the ribs.

"Fuck!" he cursed, stumbling back. I ran out into the street as fast as I could until I collided with yet another body.

"No! Get off me! Get away from me!" I cried fighting hysterically to break free of the strong grip.

"Caria it's me! Levi!"

I stopped fighting and opened my teary eyes. Relief overcame me and I collapsed into Levi, weeping against him.

"Hey!"

I turned in alarm as the corrupt officer burst out of the alleyway looking for me. He rushed toward us, but stopped, spotting me with Levi.

"Don't take another step," Levi ordered harshly, pulling out his gun and aiming it at the MPU officer.

"C-C-Captain Levi. I was-th-that girl was trying to escape interrogation. We were checking her for bite wounds, and she refused to cooperate," he lied.

"She's been with me since before the quarantine so she's fine," Levi said.

"Well she assaulted some of my men, and I'd like to have her arrested," the officer complained.

"Is that so?" Levi said stepping forward. In the blink of an eye, Levi's fist connected with the man's cheek. His foot kicked him in the ribs, and he pulled the man up by the little bit of hair he had to come face to face with him.

"I don't like being lied to. Especially by fucking pigshit officers abusing their power over innocent people. You expect me to think that expletive I heard earlier followed by this girl running into my arms was just because she was refusing to be examined?" Levi seethed.

"Captain Levi!" the green eyed soldier came bounding down the road sporting a nasty bruise on his head. He saluted Levi, and then explained what had happened beforehand.

"Good work. I respect your courage to do the right thing. I'll call in another dispatch to take this piece of shit trash out," Levi said. We sat waiting for a while before another MPU dispatch appeared. They put the apparent sergeant in handcuffs and tossed him in the police car along with the chestnut haired soldier who'd went along with his superior's madness. I waved at the blonde officer as he left with the rest of the military police, leaving me and Levi alone.

"Hey, I'm sorry you had to go through that. I should ha-"

I kissed him, pressing my lips fully against his.

"You've saved me more than once now... and if you meant to do me wrong, I would've known by now. _I_ should have trusted _you,_ " I apologized. He didn't say anything and I immediately became flustered at my actions.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to kiss you...er well I _did_... but if you don't feel right about it then um..." I trailed off nervously as he just stood still with a blank face.

"You talk too much," he said with the curve of his mouth almost resembling a smirk.

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It is not Caria's day today. Stohess is filled with perverts and creeps *_*. Stayed tuned for the next chapter of Back to Back! Feedback and more appreciated. Until next time!


	7. Get the Hell out of Dodge

**Chapter 6: Get the Hell Out of Dodge**

"So what now? Couldn't you just have used the MPU to get out of Sina. I mean you are a policeman," I pointed out.

"No. As you've just experience with that sergeant, the MPU has relatively corrupt members running around. My faction is in undercover operations, and taking on serious matters. Usually we remain separate from the MPU, so I'd prefer not to seek their assistance," Levi explained.

"I'm glad you came along when you did. Why were you headed this way anyways?" I questioned.

"You seemed to have handled things pretty well without me. I came this way to retrieve you. I've made it my goal to get you to safety, and you're not safe here," Levi said.

"You know you don't have to be so chivalrous. It's not like I'm paying you or anything," I shrugged. I walked ahead of Levi, only noticing a minute later that he had stopped walking beside me. I turned around and raised a brow at him. He had a furrowed expression on his face.

"You don't trust people very well do you," Levi said as a statement rather than as a question.

"...No. I think people are mostly out for themselves and, well, they never care about anything that 's not about them _until_ it affects them personally," I replied.

"Quite a cynical viewpoint. I never had you pegged for that kind of attitude," he said with a curious tone.

"Looks can be deceiving," I smiled bitterly.

"If you believe that then apply it to me. I'm not trying to get anything out of you, alright? You said you knew that, but you're yo-yo-ing back and forth. I'm sorry about what happened with that man, but not all of us are like him. Take that blonde kid for example. He told me everything. Some of us still have a sense of honor," Levi reassured me with a determined glare.

"I'm sorry... I-I'm just not used to such kindness. I do trust you," I promised. Levi paused for a moment before nodding and continuing to walk ahead of me.

"...We need to get into the tunnels," Levi said.

"Can't we just go through one of the maintenance doors to get to the other side?" I pointed out.

"...yes, actually. We...can do that," he confirmed slowly.

"What you sound surprised?" I chuckled.

"I just... don't know why I didn't think of it. It'll be so much quicker," Levi answered.

"Well, I'm the brains of this operation, and you can be the brawn," I joked.

"Hmph, don't get ahead of yourself brat," he retorted with something resembling a smirk.

"H-hey, I'm a woman not a kid!" I huffed.

"I know that," he said turning back and giving me a lewd once-over. I gasped at his boldness, and felt my face burning in response.

"Y-you know, for an officer you're pretty informal, and not to mention perverted! I mean, er, you're nice too, but-but what was with that look?! And then the train business when I first met you!?" I exclaimed with embarrassed passion.

"I'll answer that... after you tell me what was with that kiss?" Too stunned to counter him, I mumbled a "never mind" and kept walking. If I didn't know any better, I'd say the deep rumbling I heard behind me was laughter.

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Together we walked along the wall, searching for a maintenance door. The closest one was probably past the gate where those people had started biting each other for some reason... It took us about twenty minutes to get back to where all the mayhem had occured. I was about to step around the corner, but Levi pulled me back by the waist.

"Be silent," he whispered in my ear. The older man took out a pistol from a bag he was carrying and handed it to me, much to my disturbance. He proceeded to unholster his own as if he was preparing to shoot something. Signaling me to stay hidden, Levi rounded the corner to where the large crowd had been earlier. I waited, nervously eying the gun he'd given me. What the hell did he expect me to do with this?! Shoot someone?! I suppose it would come in handy if any more creeps tried anything, but if he was with me couldn't he just handle them himself? I didn't mind going hand to hand, but using a gun on someone?

Levi returned to my side after a few minutes, his eyes bearing a unsettled look. He took my hand and led me around the bend. My eyes were hit with a scene of carnage. People were strewn across each other. Just... piles of corpses. There were bullet wounds on their bodies with blood leaking out of them. These people... they were supposed to go through the gate, but this...this looked like a massacre! I knew that regular civilians didn't carry guns either, so the military must've...

My breath hitched in my throat. Somebody among the dead was moving. My eyes zeroed in on person who hunched over another body. I bent down, and stepped closer. He was eating something?

"Excuse me, sir? What happened?" I asked. He turned around, and I saw eyes that showed signs of popped blood vessels and his mouth...his mouth was dripping blood!? I gagged and my hand flew to my face to stop any vomit from coming out. He was consuming human flesh! Slowly, the man rose onto his feet, taking a step towards me.

"Caria get away from him!" Levi shouted. I turned and sprinted next to Levi who had his gun trained on the cannibalistic man.

"Levi, what the hell is going on?!" I questioned. The dark haired officer shot the creature through the head and it fell over. We paused, eyes trained on his unmoving form.

"Is he... or _it_ dead?" I inquired.

"I think so. Come on, we need get out of here. There could be more of them."

"More of them? I mean... they're people right?! Ah!" I yelped. I looked down and saw a grinning woman with bloody eyes. A bullet hole quickly appeared in her forehead and her hand dropped from my leg.

"This might be a danger zone soon if all of them are actually still alive. We crossed over the last of the bodies and I turned around to see some of them shifting, awakening with our presence.

"There! The door's right there!" Levi alerted me. We sprinted to the door. It opened and we were greeted by more bloody-eyed creatures.

"Shit! Someone must have left it open. Come on, we have to get to the next one!" Levi yelled.

I ran as fast as I could. Together, we bolted away from that nightmare, stopping only after putting a miles distance between us and them. I sat down and my head hit the back of the wall. This... this was straight out of some bad movie!

"Please tell me they were just acting," I sighed tiredly.

"Well, if that were the case then I must of committed murder because these are real bullets," he said holding up his gun. I closed my eyes and tried to think of my life just yesterday. Unbelievable. I was running to catch the metro yesterday morning and now, today in the afternoon, I was running away from a horde of cannibals. I glanced at Levi, who was silently contemplating my face.

"What?" I asked.

"We have to keep moving..." he said although I doubt that was all he had to say.

"If I'd stayed there. I would be... one of them..." I paused, the reality hitting me like a cinder block. We walked along the wall, looking back every now and then to see if we were being followed.

"Well good thing those things are slow. I never liked the faster zombies in movies or games," I commented. Levi looked at me incredulously and I shrugged. It was three o'clock now. Two more hours and it'd be getting dark. The walls were tall so they blocked out the sun which usually hung around until seven outside of the walls since it was nearing summer. I didn't want to be trapped in the dark with with those things.

"Another maintenance door," Levi pointed. We came upon it and it wouldn't budge. I took a hair pin out and began trying to pick the lock.

"You know how to pick locks?" Levi asked suspiciously.

"Don't worry officer, it's only something I do for fun," I smirked.

"You really _are_ weird," he responded. I felt the inside of the lock click, and grinned in triumph.

"Done," I announced as the door opened revealing an empty hall. "What would you do without me?"

"Use this key," Levi droned.

"What!? You had a key? Why didn't you tell me?" I turned, arms folded in annoyance.

"I wanted to see what you could do. When keys don't work, your uncanny skill could come in handy," Levi explained. I sighed and turned to walk into maintenance hall. We locked the door behind us.

"Alright. I can speak now," Levi said looking around the inside of the maintenance hallway.

"What?" I said as he stared into a corner of the wall.

"Just making sure there are no security cameras is all. It seems this passage is without them. Some maintenance areas have cameras, but since there are so many of them I guess they didn't bother with a camera for all of them although that wasn't very smart if you ask me," Levi conveyed.

"Well I'm guessing it works in our favor. Now tell my why you've been so secretive," I demanded

"This incident was caused by the Military Police Unit. More specifically by a man named Kenny," Levi stated.

"Military Police? I know they're corrupt, but causing some sort of apocalyptic mess?" I said doubtfully.

"Do you know the Jaegers?" Levi asked.

"Of course. Doesn't everyone? They're the founders of Titan. Carla and Grisha Jaeger," I answered.

"Just making sure. Anyways, there was another family that played an important part in the creation of Titan, but their names are not as well known. They're called the Reiss family. When the creation of Titan went public, it was only the Jaeger name that gained recognition. Many in the Reiss family felt that they deserved to have their names recognized as part of the co-founding team. They were denied this, and there's been a silent grudge ever since. Now Kenny is a hardened criminal. He's alluded the Covert Police Unit for quite some time now. He's got ties with the Reiss family and they ,being the foolish revenge seeking people that they are, trust him. I doubt they intended for something like this to happen," Levi talked at length. "Nonetheless, a couple days ago at the capitals bio engineering facility, someone stole a very toxic sample containing a disease that's only been tested on lab rats. As my faction discovered, it was a disease that caused an insatiable hunger towards those of the same species. The person who stole the disease has been posing as a scientist for about a decade now. They had all the authorization and everything, but going back into their history, it seems they had a criminal record that wasn't completely erased. It was a convict that was part of Kenny's old gang. How he managed to get so far into the system is beyond me, but he managed and now it seems as though that sample was stolen to carry out some sort of terrorist attack in Titan."

I frowned at this new bit of information. A terrorist attack? The Reiss family?

"So what exactly was the Reiss family planning to do teaming up with a criminal?" I asked.

"Who knows. I would of thought that maybe they planned an assassination attempt on the Jaegers, but looks like things never got to that point before Kenny decided to act according to his own agenda," Levi scoffed.

"How was the disease even spread? If it was just a sample stolen then how would it get administered to people?" I pressed.

"The contents were probably cloned to make more samples and yesterday a routine flu vaccination was at the capital. I'm guessing Kenny mixed the vaccine up with that toxic sample and anyone who got the vaccine was infected. You didn't get a shot did you?" Levi turned to watch me carefully.

"No... I was trying to make the metro on time so I left the capital without getting it," I replied. "Besides, if I had, wouldn't I have attacked you sometime yesterday?" I pointed out.

"Yea...and it's been over twenty-four hours, so you're clear..." Levi trailed off. It hit me that Levi and I had been so close last night. I could have hurt him, and he didn't strike me as the type to put himself in such a dangerous situation.

"Levi, I could have turned on you last night if I had gotten the disease. But you let me get close to you. Why?" I inquired.

"I trusted my instinct... and I also checked you out while you were sleeping," he admitted without pause.

"What!?" I shouted.

"Calm down," he sighed. "I mean I checked your arms for the shot. Everyone who gets vaccinations usually has a band-aid or sign of intrusion at the point where the skin was pierced by the needle. You showed no indication of having had a shot so I... allowed you to stay with me."

"Wait, if you knew that, why'd you ask if I'd gotten a shot?" I asked.

"Double-checking. Still. I was pretty damn careless. How uncharacteristic..." he said more to himself than to me. I slyly moved closer.

"So even a covert police officer can get _distracted_ in such away. That's so funny," I smirked. Levi raised a brow and turned.

"Not as funny as the moaning sounds you made in your sleep," he retorted.

"Huh?! I did no such thing!" I exclaimed.

"I know. I just wanted to see you flustered," he shrugged in amusement.

"Ugh, you're so-"

"We should get going," he said, cutting me off.

"Wait... how do you know about how the disease spread an everything?" I pondered.

"Someone in my unit has already captured one of the infected people. Her names Hanji Zoe. She's a lunatic, but damn good at what she does," Levi said.

"Lunatic?" I echoed.

"She gets too hyped up about her work if you ask me. Does a lot of strange experiments," Levi said.

"So she's been giving you information," I concluded.

"Yes, her and the chief of the Covert Police, Erwin Smith," Levi added.

"Hmm, so what now? I mean. It sounds like this thing could spread to Rose and probably Maria eventually. We're gonna have to leave Titan... aren't we?" I frowned.

"...Probably. As far as I know. Wall Rose hasn't been compromised yet, but it'd be safest to just leave the walls entirely..." Levi agreed.

We sat in silence for a few moments. My entire life had been lived within the walls. My parents rarely spoke of the outside. I didn't know what was out there.

"Have you ever been outside Titan?" I asked.

"No." Levi answered simply.

"Levi I don't know what's become of my parents. I don't have any family besides them. If I went outside the walls I... I wouldn't know what to do," I confessed.

"As things are now, being too pessimistic won't get you anywhere. Just focus on getting to safety. We can figure out what to do once this is over," Levi told me.

"Okay," I replied. We moved to the end of the hall and opened the door at the end leading to Wall Rose.


	8. Dream Ablaze

I just want to thank everyone for reading and supporting Back to Back , I really appreciate it!

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 **Chapter 7: Dream Ablaze**

"Freeze!" a voice hollered as Levi and I stepped out of the maintenance corridor. The dark haired officer put his hands up and signaled for me to do the same.

"Holy- Captain? Captain Levi?" a tan brown haired man questioned lowering his gun.

"Gunther," Levi said acknowledging the man treading towards us. The man named Gunther signaled the other soldier to lower their guns. He looked younger than Levi and wore a firm expression on his face with a hint of worry.

"What's going on? I thought you got out of Sina yesterday?" Gunther questioned. He turned to look at, his eyebrows knitting together as he gave me a once over. I watched his face go through a metamorphosis of expressions, and his features blossomed into that of a goofy child's. "So where have you been hiding her? I thought you said you didn't have time for dating or something along those lines," Gunther mentioned slyly, nudging the shorter officer in the arm.

"I'm merely escorting a civilian to safety. She's been through rough time, and I promised to see her home," Levi answered simply. My face fell a bit. Just a civilian, huh? It was kinda disappointing to hear from him, but I supposed that even though we had chemistry, nothing was actually official yet...

"Gunther, we were waiting at the gate when people started biting each other, and then all hell broke loose. Right now there are _infected_ people hanging around the gate, and a few tried to attack us before we escaped. One of the maintenance doors was filled with those things and it needs to be sealed from this side of the wall if it's not too late... It's the maintenance door to the right of the gate when you're facing it," Levi conveyed

"I'll see to it that we get it sealed Captain. You should head to the camp near the Trost District. We're going to evacuate Wall Rose eventually, but our main priority right now is making sure that no one outside of Sina gets infected. Things are getting difficult. Wall Rose is too wide an expanse for us to cover. And er... we're watching out for _them,_ " Gunther finished.

"It's all right. She knows," Levi told his companion.

"What?! But isn't that need-to-know? I mean she's a civilian, and don't we have to keep that kind of stuff under wraps?" Gunther frowned throwing me a side glance.

"We can trust her. Where's Erwin?" Levi asked the taller officer.

"I believe he's actually back at the capital in the quarantine area taking care of things with the Military Police," Gunther relayed with a hard expression.

"It's fine. He's probably just overseeing the cause of the outbreak," Levi said picking up on Gunther's concern.

"Here. Your keys so you can get your erm... friend to safety," Gunther smirked. He turned to me and outstretched his hand. "I'm sorry I haven't been speaking to you directly. I'm Gunther Schultz, nice to meet you."

I took his hand and gave him a firm hand shake.

"Woah, nice grip there," he complimented.

"Thanks!" I exclaimed with a toothy grin. We departed from the younger officer, and went over to an informal parking lot covered in grass. I looked around at all the cars bearing their police branding. Cars in Titan either ran on electricity or solar power. The solar powered cars were far more expensive, but they ran smoothly compared to the electric ones. Plus your car was always the perfect temperature if it was powered by solar energy, even in the winter.

"Here," Levi said.

"Nice. A Verbara. I've always wanted one of these," I said staring admirably at the dark silver coat of the car. The inside had anything and everything you could ever want in a car. I exhaled as my rear slowly sunk into the leather seat. "This is so awesome," I cooed.

"It's just a car. Close the door so we can get going," he said shaking his head with amusement playing on his face.

"So what do you have in your refrigerator?" I pondered, sliding my seat back to the fridge compartment.

"Tea," he answered.

"Tea?" I raised a curious brow, opening the small door. Sure enough there was a bunch of iced tea bottles huddled together.

"I'm surprised you don't have any alcohol," I commented.

"Why, did you want some? I don't care for alcohol much save for the occasional wine," Levi said.

"No... I was just saying is all. Do you mind if I take an iced tea?" I asked.

"Knock yourself out," he shrugged

I took out a lemon flavored tea and returned the seat to the original position. Levi started the car and we rolled out of the lot.

"It should be no more than three hours before we reach the camp. You should rest," the older man suggested.

"Yea, I guess I can do that..." I hesitated. We turned on to a long road leading from Stohess to Karanese. I glanced at Levi who was focused on the road ahead of him. My eyes zeroed in on his features. He was so... expression less. I knew there was something in his eyes, but exactly what it was remained to be seen.

"Is there a reason for your staring?" Levi asked without looking at me.

"N-no. I'm sorry," I apologized. I turned to gaze out the window instead. Everything was so green and vibrant that it almost made me dizzy. I could see myself lying back in the sun on the soft bristles of the grassy plain. Sleeping...

" _Caria, follow me."_

 _I was led to the top of the wall, eyes closed. A hand poised around my wrist to guide me._

" _We're here." the voice announced. My eyes remained closed until the red blind fold was untied and I was finally gifted with accursed sight._

" _I-it's burning! All of it! It's all burning!" I screamed. I watched the houses, aflame with a rage of nature that could never be tempered._

" _It's all thanks to you Caria. You did this." I turned to the man who was speaking. The haircut was unmistakable and those eyes, the color of the rising smoke._

" _No. No. No," I denied, shaking with tears._

" _Come and receive your reward for bringing about the end of Germany's prodigious child," Levi said giving me his hand. I shook my head, refusing to touch the treacherous skin. I spun around to flee but I was drawn back to Levi by an invisible force. I struggled against absent hands and weightless weight. Levi cuffed my guilty wrists and turned my jaw to face him. He pierced through me with eyes that mirrored the fire flying about below. He held me to him, paying me with his lips in a monstrous kiss that lacked softness and suggested no desire for return. I froze in place at the assault before I was released into the red hot hell that spread throughout Titan. The last thing I saw was his back, turned to the trash he'd thrown so carelessly over the side._

I woke up from drowning. My breathing was uneven, spiraling up and down. Levi stopped the car, one hand on my shoulder to steady me and the other taking my chin. Realizing it was him, I recoiled, backing away, but not missing the pained shock that struck fast like lightning in that refused interaction. His hand snapped back to his side and he waited for me to regain true consciousness, for I was clearly not on the same plane of reality at the moment. A great pause went on before I reclaimed myself. My gaze bravely lifted to see Levi turned away from me until I inhaled and exhaled of my own will, conveying that I was now in my right mind and body.

"It was just a... well, a nightmare," I said.

"About?" he pressed.

"Those creatures we encountered. The diseased, the walking dead, you know," I lied.

"Is that all?" he pressed further with a tinge of suspicion. Goodness knows I didn't want to lie to him. His steady expression and questioning eyes were that of a parents', whose disappointment in you made you feel like you had lost a little bit of character along the way to making a mistake, or in my case, telling a lie.

I couldn't tell him that I saw all of Titan burning, that it was _my fault_ , and that he had kissed me before tossing me into the fire as some sort of reward.

"It was...silly. I'm sorry I caused you any alarm. We can keep going," I said, not meeting his gaze. I felt utterly exhausted, and equally confused. "Um... how long was I asleep?"

"An hour and thirty minutes. It shouldn't be too long now..." Levi said blankly. I hummed in acknowledgement and went back to staring out the window. Titan burning because of me? And the Levi in the dream...

I sighed. Since when were dreams supposed to make sense anyways...

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I hope you all enjoyed the chapter. Reviews appreciated! Until next time, ciao!


	9. Blushes and Warnings

**Chapter 8: Blushes and Warnings  
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"Here it is," Levi announced. We came upon a site located several miles from the Trost Gate with multiple tents pitched for the refugees from Sina. I rubbed my eyes, still dazed from the epic nightmare.

"Hey are you sure you're okay?" Levi asked coming over to my side of the car.

"Yea I'll be fine... you're really sweet for caring so much though. I'm... glad I came with you," I admitted with a tender smile. Levi blinked slowly and then stepped forward. His hand went to the small of my back and he pushed my face to his. I squeaked with pleasure as he tentatively moved his lips against mine and I mimicked him, holding steadily onto his arms.

"I have to go..." Levi said, eventually breaking away from me.

"Wah...?" I responded, a bit dazed.

The officer hesitated. A hint of smugness appeared on his features before he repeated himself, prompting a somewhat more coherent response from me.

"Oh...oh! I... yea. I guess I'll see you when this is over then?" I asked not bothering to hide my hopeful tone.

"Yes. You will," he promised. "Take this. It's a back up badge I carry around. I made a note on the back of it, so show it to anyone if you have...'problems'," he explained. I gave him an incredulous look.

"Hey! Be careful out there," I said as he returned to the car. I watched as he drove away, reaching up to touch my lips, unable to help the fluttery feeling in my stomach.

"Hoh. So that's the _jerk_ officer you were talking about," a familiar voice quipped.

"Huh, he's pretty short," a male voice added.

"Mikasa! Eren!" I spun around.

"Yep. We're here, and so are some of the others from our floor. Um, Jean, Armin, Sasha, and Annie. Connie, Ymir, Krista, Bertolt and Reiner went to some other camp just a few miles from here," Eren mentioned. My face brightened at the news. At least my friends were safe...

"Eren, you should go let the others know Caria's back," Mikasa said without looking at him.

"But aren't we going to see them now. We can g-"

"No. Go now," Mikasa ordered. I raised a brow at her odd behavior and Eren sighed, knowing he wouldn't be able to win against Mikasa. He stalked off towards the long line of tents just behind us.

"That man... I saw him giving you something. What was it?" the younger woman interrogated.

"Nothing," I said sheepishly. I watched carefully as her eyes lit up, and her hand pointed behind me.

"Hey it looks like he's coming back," Mikasa announced. I did a 180 only to find there was no one coming. Mikasa wrestled for the badge that was curled in a hand behind my back.

"Hey!" I protested as she freed the keepsake from my grip.

"Huh. Isn't this a police badge?" Mikasa frowned.

"Yes! And that was a dirty trick," I snapped, snatching the badge out of her hands. I took it and looked on the back of it. There was a four digit code as well as a telephone number that was presumably Levi's. I hadn't had the chance to exchange numbers with him before...

"Why are you staring at it like that?" Mikasa asked with a tone of amusement.

"Man, you're so nosy Mikasa! C'mon, I want to see what's going on with everyone else," I walked into the encampment where people were moving their belongings into tents, standing and talking, eating, or playing games. Children ran in and out of the pitched structures, and two older women hollered at them to no avail.

"Hey Caria!" a voice that sounded like Jean's called. I turned and saw Jean wearing a suit and tie.

"What's with the getup?" I asked.

"Well, tonight some of us get a ride out of this dump to Trost so I figured if I dressed up, the people in charge would be like 'look at this guy, he's way too important to leave behind,'" Jean shrugged.

"Jean, you're crazy. Why would you, a single guy without dependents, be taken over parents and their children?" I rolled my eyes.

"Good point. Hmm... well maybe we can grab one of these kids running around, you could pretend to be my wife and then we get to leave," Jean suggested.

"No," I deadpanned. "Anyways, where's everyone else?" I asked. Jean sighed, disappointed that I had shot down his plan so quickly, and ushered for me to follow him to a large tent that stood near the middle of camp. I peaked inside the tent to see multiple bunk beds, a portable toilet, a water dispenser and a cupboard. Mikasa was inside already, scolding Eren who was slouching on a table with Armin across from him, offering a sympathetic expression. Annie was on a bed reading with headphones in her ears, and Sasha was, of course, eating french fries and laughing as she pawed at her phone. I chuckled at the scene before me before pulling a seat up next to Armin.

"Oh, Caria! You made it!" Armin exclaimed.

"Mikasa I'm sorry, I forgot. But it was an honest mistake, so please, give it a rest," Eren sighed. I looked between the two of them with a raised brow.

"Eren forgot their wallets back at the district," Armin whispered as though mentioning it aloud would be dangerous.

"Mikasa, we're in a state of emergency, things like this are bound to happen. It'll be over before we know it," I beamed optimistically. Truth be told, saying something like that wasn't exactly reassuring. My mind flashed to the _infected_ people at the Stohess gate, and then to Levi who had shot them dead without considering whether there was a cure for whatever had happened to those people.

Still, he had been so calm when dealing with them, and surely, even now, his unit was working towards a solution. If anyone could stop whatever was going on, it would be him and his Covert Unit buddies. I pulled out my phone and the badge that Levi gave me, eagerly putting in the numbers listed on the back of the badge.

"Good luck! I know you'll put a stop to this craziness," I texted.

 **Attention, all refugees are to report to the field in the middle of the encampment**

"Alright, finally! They're probably getting ready to start evacuating people to Trost!" Jean cheered. Everyone in the tent gathered together and made way for the field.

"Hey, Caria do you have any food?" Sasha asked coming up along side me.

"Sasha, this really isn't the time to be asking for food. Besides, didn't you just have some french fries?" I responded.

"French fry chips! Yes, but I'm still hungry. Oh, I know! They'll probably give us some food before we head out!" Sasha exclaimed, excited by her own prediction.

"Hey, I heard you spent the night at a police officers house. Anything interesting happen?" Annie interrogated at my right while Sasha, at my left, started drooling and imagining all the good food that would be waiting for us in the middle of the field. My face went hot at the question, though Annie only offered me a blank expression as if her question was just a regular, "how are you?". She actually reminded me of a Levi, but in female form. Her demeanor was often stoic and she could be sarcastic as well. We both took kickboxing together, and she was always a scary competitor to go up against. Her form was perfect, she was precise, and could hit you hard if you weren't properly guarded. That said, I had earned the position of being her sparring partner since most of the other fighters were "too wimpy", as Annie put it, to put up a real fight.

"Yeah, I got myself into a pretty, er, weird situation," I laughed nervously.

"Oh yeah? From what Mikasa told me, it seems like you finally met 'the one'" Annie put in air quotations. I studied her face hard and saw the smallest curve on her lips. She found the whole thing amusing!?

"I didn't think you'd be the type for to listen to Mikasa's nonsense... he's a cool guy, but, we just met and it's not like that!" I denied. At the same time, my mind rudely replayed the image of us kissing in my head.

"Ha, what an entertaining reaction, you're blushing," Annie said with a widening smirk.

"Gah!" I walked faster, leaving Sasha's food rantings and Annie's chuckling behind me.

"Hey Eren!" I slowed, deciding to walk with him instead. He was staring at his feet, seemingly deep in thought. "Eren?"

"Sorry, I'm just thinking about my parents. They told me something strange when I called them from campus before all the commotion..." Eren confessed.

"Oh yeah, what was it?" I pressed curiously.

"You have to get outside the walls."

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I hope you enjoyed the chapter! Tune in next time! Ciao!


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